Bigger and Better

AggMan Staff | Published on October 1, 2008

Rattlesnake Quarry’s new plant boosts production and improves quality.

by Carl Emigh

Kobyluck Inc. doubled production of hard granitic gneiss from 150 tons per hour to 300 tons per hour and greatly improved product quality, especially cubicity, at its Rattlesnake Quarry in Salem, Conn. A tracked crushing and screening system consisting of jaw and cone crushers and dry screening and scalping/screening equipment helped with this accomplishment.

The quarry – part of a family-owned business – has been in operation since 2004 and produces virtually everything from man-sand to 7-inch materials, especially 1 to 0.5 inch (#67) for making portland cement concrete (PCC). Other crushed materials are used for making pre-stressed concrete and as road base.

Addressing the problem

“We needed more production and greater product quality to meet growing demands and handle increasing customer concerns about product cubicity,” says Josh Kobyluck, vice president and quarry operations manager of Kobyluck Inc. “Plus, our operating space at Rattlesnake is limited, so we wanted a new system with a compact footprint that would still allow for smooth operations and good maintenance access.”

The plant is achieving that through a combination of equipment that includes a Terex Pegson Premiertrak 1165 (26- by 44-inch) jaw with hydraulic adjustment and Terex Pegson Automax 1300 Maxtrak cone, plus a Powerscreen H6203-R scalping/screening plant and Powerscreen Warrior 1800 capable of dry screening, three-way splitting, and stockpiling a variety of products.

“The whole system fits into an area that’s only about 125 by 75 feet,” Kobyluck says. “No other manufacturers we had checked out could give us that small footprint, much less the increase in product quality and throughput. Also, I had our dealer, Powerscreen of Connecticut, custom build a larger hopper – 17-feet long and 16-feet wide – on the Premiertrak 1165 jaw plant to accommodate large loads of incoming material from our Cat 988 loader. The 1165 is well able to crush the increased input.”

Due to cramped operating conditions, Kobyluck managers had originally thought they would need to mount a stationary primary jaw crusher on a ledge of the quarry wall and operate haul trucks to transport crushed stone 800 to 1,000 yards to the secondary cone crusher and screens on the quarry floor. However, the small footprint of the crushing and screening system enabled them to keep the whole system in one place, eliminating the need for trucks and generally speeding up the operation overall.

Choosing the equipment

“A very big part of our business comes from rush orders,” Kobyluck says. “So we have to be able to quickly crunch a lot of stone through our system to keep up with sudden demands plus a generally increasing overall demand. We checked out several manufacturers’ equipment before we made our decision.”

Kobyluck has dealt with Powerscreen of Connecticut since 1991 and has been very satisfied with its knowledge of quarrying operations and equipment, as well as its parts and service backup, even on weekends. “They do whatever it takes,” Kobyluck says. “Once when we had a problem, the dealer brought their service team to the quarry that Saturday morning and told them simply: ‘Don’t leave here until the machine is working.’ Fortunately, it only took a couple hours or so, but that kind of dealer commitment is crucial.”

Another important factor is the Automax design of the 1300 Maxtrak cone. A closed-side setting allows for easy adjustment while the machine is running. “Fines can cake up and damage other makes of cone crushers,” Kobyluck says, “but not the Automax. Further, the 1300’s cubicity is superior. The crushed product is smoother and has a better finish without a lot of jagged edges; so it’s much more ‘workable’ for making concrete. Before we got the 1300 Maxtrak, we were using a smaller stationary cone by another manufacturer that just wasn’t getting the job done.”

Specific materials produced at the Rattlesnake Quarry include #6 (0.75 inch, 0.375 inch, and 0.5 inch); #7 (0.5 inch); #67 (a 1-inch blend of #6 and #7); #4 (1.5 inch); and #3 (6 inch coming straight out of the jaw crusher). The 6-inch product is conveyed first to the primary screen to scalp a 1-inch minus base material. The 1-inch plus overs are then sent to the cone to make 1-inch minus material that goes to the 20- by 6-foot triple-shaft, three-deck horizontal screen with the re-circulating feature.

Kobyluck has been operating the 26- by 44-inch jaw crusher since 2005; the dry screen since 2006; the cone crusher and scalping/screening plant since April 2008. Replacing the old 26- by 44-inch jaw and old, smaller cone in April 2008 has completed the current system that has doubled previous production and improved product quality.

The jaw crusher features an “M” series single-toggle jaw with a hydraulic adjust system for changing the machine quickly with no drawback rod adjustment.

The cone features the all-in-feed Automax design for better throughput, shape, and reduction for secondary, tertiary, and quaternary use. The design can effectively utilize greater engine power and has lower frictional loss. This results in greater production, product quality, and fuel efficiency. More of the energy is used to crush the rock, rather than to overcome the frictional resistance that may occur in other cone crushers.

The primary screen is a high-capacity, heavy-duty machine capable of dry screening, three-way splitting, and stockpiling a wide variety of materials in the most demanding applications.

The dry screening plant with a re-circulating feature is designed for large-volume processing up to 800 tons per hour with screen motion variances that allow the operator to adapt the plant to specific applications, providing high resistance to pegging and blinding, and with high energy characteristics to loosen fines.

Keys to a successful quarry

Kobyluck is a family owned and operated company started in 1972 by Josh’s parents, Dan and Maureen Kobyluck, with one truck. The company now consists of four divisions: Quarry, Trucking, Construction; and Ready-Mix Concrete. The divisions are run by the four Kobyluck brothers, who have all been involved in the company one way or another since an early age – Josh since he was 12 years old. The quarry operation provides crushed stone for use in the construction and ready-mix divisions, and for sale to a variety of customers.

“Nobody works as hard as the owners of a family company,” Josh Kobyluck stresses. “Our name and reputation are on the line with every transaction. So we do whatever it takes to provide our customers with the products and service they need and demand – at competitive prices. The exceptional quality of our Terex Pegson and Powerscreen system at the Rattlesnake Quarry is one big advantage we have. Our dealer, Powerscreen of Connecticut, is another. Efficient, dependable equipment and dedicated people are the keys to a successful quarry operation.”

Carl Emigh is a writer and photographer who specializes in the construction and mining industries.

This article and photos were provided on behalf of Terex Pegson and Powerscreen.